XCAR: Porsche Cayman GTS vs. Porsche Boxster GTS

XCAR: Porsche Cayman GTS vs. Porsche Boxster GTS

8:50 /
May 21, 2014

Porsche have released GTS editions of the Boxster and Cayman, the top spec versions available. Both have more power, adjustable rides and are pretty amazing. But which is best?

I've said at different points that both the Porsche Boxter and Cayman are the best cars the company makes and now there's a new version of each, the GTS, supposedly the ultimate driver's version of each car so I can finally find out which is best.
But first a small history lesson on where the GTS name came from.
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This is a Porsche 904 Carrera GTS.
Around 100 of them will hit the road as part of a homologation program to get the race ready version of the 904 on track and competing.
At the time, the Porsche 718 Racer was swiftly becoming obsolete and Porsche needed something to further its efforts on the world circuit.
While the 904 and its later evolutions went on to do quite well, the name given to the first of the so called plastic Porsches, thanks to the material that made it, became quite the legend.
The 904, itself, was a smart piece of design.
Not only was it penned by the incredible [UNKNOWN] Porsche, the same pen behind the 911, it was also damn near finished on the first go.
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Thanks to enormous time constraints to get the car finished in time for homologation, the design team didn't have all that much wiggle room to refine and redesign the car, as such.
It would remain pretty similar to [UNKNOWN] original draft.
Later, [UNKNOWN] would go on to say that the 904 was his favorite design.
The 904's name, GTS, was something of a necessity.
Porsche owned the number zero number naming convention, the same thing that stopped the 911 being called the 901.
So the naming gods at Porsche needed something to make the car stand out.
GTS or [UNKNOWN] is the most sport Porsche's of the cars that offer the best driving experience possible.
They're not about out right power, like a turbo or a turbo S. If a Porsche's got GTS on it's deck, it's gonna offer you the ultimate driving experience, at least that's what Porsche says.
The GTS badge can be seen on the current Cayenne and Panamera, and featured on the best version of the 997 generation 911.
Now though there's a new brace of GTSs in town.
The Cayman and the Boxter have been given a spit polish and some extra everything.
So, what has GTSofication done to the Boxster and the Cayman?
Well, I know I said GTS's aren't about all out power.
But, they are actually the most powerful in their respective line up.
Porsche has added 15 horses over the S model of each car.
Which means, the Boxster now has 330 and the Cayman 340.
I'm willing to say the S versions aren't exactly underpowered.
These things are gonna be quick.
The power gives each car some pretty impressive numbers.
They both shave nought point three seconds off the S version's nought to 62 times.
With the Boxter managing the dash in 4.7 seconds and the Cayman doing the same in 4.6.
That's with the PDK gearbox and launch control.
Their top speeds 174 and 177 miles an hour depending on the choice of roof.
But power does not a GTS make.
They have the handle as well.
And Porsche has added a few toys to make sure that happens.
They both get as standard the sports chrono pack, which adds a few fun little toys, such as launch control and a lap timer.
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And it also has dynamic engine mounts.
Now they're really smart because they stiffen when the car does anything.
So, under acceleration, under braking, under cornering, they make sure the engine mass doesn't travel too far.
That's smart.
There's also Porsche's active suspension management.
Now what that does, is well, it allows you to tune the car's suspension at the press of a button if you want a sharper or more comfortable ride.
For the aesthetically minded both cars come with natty black spoilers, [INAUDIBLE] lamps, and all that jazz.
The cars are also lower for a sportier drive.
But I don't really care about any of that.
I just wanna find out which is best.
So the Cayman GTS first up.
I will tell you what I love the base Cayman.
Such a complete sports car.
It feels so planted.
So good at any given opportunity and this just ups the game.
I've been hurdling it around these mountain roads and, oh, I tell you what, it grips, and grips, and grips, and grips and grips.
The steering is really good.
It feels really nice.
You do feel so connected to the car.
Whoever programmed the noise, did a bloody good job because, in sports class, if you rest in second, just give it a tiny little bit of foot and let go [NOISE].
You get this awesome gurgling noise.
It's like the car is going [NOISE] tiger's are more fun.
Because it just want to be driven.
And trashed and played with.
Jumping out of the Cayman and getting into the Boxster, you realize how sharp the Cayman is.
And that thing is very weighty.
You can feel you're hefting around something that's very, very focused, designed to get around corners as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
And the box is just so much lighter, the steering is lighter, the suspension is a little bit softer so it feels more floaty, it gets a bit more mobile in the corners.
It's not quite as razor-sharp, it's not quite as GTS-y as the Cayman GTS, if that makes sense.
But, it does have a wonderful advantage.
This, while not being quite as hardcore as the Cayman, has more drama.
It's more accessible fun.
So, without the roof, you can hear it more.
And the engine in this thing sounds incredible.
The sound engineers did a stonking job.
We know that from driving the Cayman, but because we don't have a roof and there's the engine right behind you, then the exhaust, bang it into sport plus and you can hear every crack, every gurgle, every rev so much better.
And if he doesn't have a roof, and say, have a tunnel, you can do this.
The noise this thing kicks out is amazing.
Porsche are very keen on saying that within each of their car, there's a racing car, technically developed on the track and then filtered into each car.
[NOISE] With this kind of [INAUDIBLE] body style but most immediately it really is the noise, I cannot stress how good it is.
It sounds like a racing car from way back when!
So really it comes down to what do you prefer?
Do you prefer a car that feels super hardcore, very agile, very, very, sporty.
Or do you prefer a car that is a bit more dramatic?
It's a bit more accessible.
A bit more of a giggle.
Not entirely down to you, I suppose it also boils down to whether you prefer a roof or not.
With the box from the Cayman GTS, if you look at the name, where it came from, from the 904, that was a mid-engine, quite accessible sports car.
They haven't even made that many of them.
But Porsche says it was affordable when it was new, about 30,000 marks.
So, when you look at the other GTS models available, the Panamera, the Cayan, those were the [INAUDIBLE].
They have the name And yeah, they keep the exhaust, but really the Boxter and the Cayman GTS are proper successes to it.
They're mid-engine, they're proper sports cars, they're accessible and they're bloody good fun and I'll bet you any money, the people are going to go mad for these.
They really are because the, the Cayman and Boxter S plus there's that little extra feeling that you're sitting on something just a little bit more focused.
A little bit more hardcore.
And a little bit more rewarding.
It feels so wonderful just to bounce from corner to corner to corner in these things.
And because, and it's so good to drive.
Because the steering is so good.
And because the gear box makes sure you don't do anything too stupid.
You can have all the fun in the world.
Having driven both cars it's safe to say they are utterly brilliant.
But you'd expect that from something bearing the GTS name.
Whichever you go for, you won't be disappointed.
The Boxster with it's [UNKNOWN] The Cayman with it's sharp [UNKNOWN] But for me there can only be one winner.
The Cayman.
As a driver's car, it's gonna be tough to beat.
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